Somewhere in the Vatican, there is a thick file with Fr James Selvaraj's name on it.It's been there since 2006.
A native of southern India, Selvaraj (pictured) was a guest priest in New Jersey when he was accused of endangering the welfare of a child in late 2005.
Shortly thereafter, he was removed from ministry.
Within three months, a grand jury declined to indict the priest, citing insufficient evidence. New Jersey's attorney general expunged the charge from Selvaraj's record.
But more than four years after secular authorities exonerated Selvaraj, the local bishop and the Vatican have refused to restore his salary, priestly duties, or - most importantly, Selvaraj says - his reputation.
"I am really angry, really furious," said Selvaraj, a slight 50-year-old with a friendly demeanour. "This is what happens to an innocent priest?"
The Catholic church has been castigated in recent months for moving slowly to remove abusers from the priesthood.
Pope Benedict XVI himself, while he was a cardinal in charge of a Vatican office that handled abusive clergy, stalled for years before moving to defrock serial child molesters in the US, according to documents recently made public.
But the Vatican moves just as slowly, if not slower, to return innocent clergy to ministry, according to priests and canon lawyers.
Meanwhile, priests like Selvaraj live for years in a state of limbo, evicted from parishes and rectories, prohibited from presenting himself as a priest or administering sacraments, and branded all but guilty in the public eye.
As many as 300 American priests claim innocence and are waiting for the Vatican to restore them to duty, according to Fr. Michael Sullivan, a Minnesota priest and member of Justice for Priests and Deacons, an independent group of canon lawyers who defend Catholic clergy.
SIC: CTHAUS